Since then, Nintendo has not commented officially The Wall Street Journal reported for the first time that Netflix was adjusting The Legend of Zelda series in a”Game of Thrones for a family audience” style series. Now Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata has treated the report obliquely in an interview with Timealthough in a way that leaves a little wiggle room.
“At this time, I have nothing new to share with you about the use of our IPs for TV shows or movies, but I can at least confirm that the article in question is not based on accurate information,” Iwata said.
That seems like a pretty firm denial, especially when it comes to the usually quiet rumors about Nintendo. If you want to parse Iwata’s words with an ultra-fine comb, you might suggest that perhaps only part of the log‘s report was correct, but that’s a bit long winded.
Another possibility: Even if the show was “in the early stages of development” in February, Iwata could still be technically accurate if that development has since been halted. This is Hollywood after all and projects get canceled all the time. The online reaction to the rumored project could have even done it if it did.
In early 2014, Iwata said Nintendo was looking to “actively expand our character licensing business” beyond the wide range of officially licensed Nintendo products already available and into “areas that we have not licensed in the past, such as digital fields.” Last week, the company said it would bring its popular characters to mobile phones for the first time as part of a partnership with Japanese mobile giant DeNA.